


A Cold Night

by Mycelle



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, He is also very ignorant despite being a lieutenant, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Joker gets angry and snaps at his android, M/M, Pre-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Role Reversal, Smoking, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 18:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17411825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycelle/pseuds/Mycelle
Summary: Jones "Joker" Nyx is a police lieutenant with a screwed-up past. His estranged cousin, Chloe Kamski, decides to give him the prototype AT700, default name Arthur. It's supposed to act as both his partner at work and a caretaker at home, and although Joker doesn't hate androids, he can't stand having a machine try to take care of him, especially one that's only programmed to do so.But perhaps that isn't entirely the case...





	A Cold Night

**Author's Note:**

> A snippet into a story that I may want to write elaborate on in the future? I'm posting this to see if anyone would be interested in a full-fledged story.
> 
> Things might be confusing without much context, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! 
> 
> Trigger warning for referenced suicide, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts; please read safely!

“Lieutenant Nyx?”

Joker felt himself full-on jolt at the sound of his title being called out. “Shit--” he fumbled with the cigarette in his hands, hissing out curses as the little stick slipped through his fingers and fell to the snowy ground. He heaved a heavy sigh as the smoke dissipated, accepting his fate as he crushed the cigarette to put it out of its misery. Ah, what a short life it had, it’ll be missed. 

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” he sighed, turning around on his heels to face the slightly frowning android. The neutral face of displeasure, he snorted mentally. “Not s’posed to smoke, right?”

“That would be advisable, yes.” The android--Arthur--responded. “Smoking has a high chance of causing multiple illnesses and infections, after all.” Joker snorted out loud this time, his lips twisting into a bitter smirk.

“Oh really?” he scoffed, shoving his hands into the scratchy pockets of his shitty green jacket. He wondered if he’d-- _ it’d _ , he had to remind himself, if  _ it  _ would be able to pick up on his sarcasm. 

“Yes, I have multiple credible sources dictating so.”  _ Guess not _ , he mused. Chloe was really getting out of touch with her shitty A.I’s. 

Some part of him bristled inside as he was reminded that Arthur wasn’t a living being.  _ It was just a machine.  _ He didn’t need a damn machine pretending to care about him. He already had her to do that after all, and frankly, having this piece of plastic only fouled his mood more than usual, especially right now. Right now he was feeling especially like an asshole, and there was no time like the present to be self-destructive, right? Maybe he could actually teach this android a fucking lesson. Maybe he’ll-- _ it _ , maybe it will finally leave him the fuck alone to slowly kill himself.

“And what if I want to contract those illnesses?” he inquired, his eyes taking a dark glint as his smirk widened. “What if I want to slowly kill myself? What then?” He was expecting some automated response, some pity shit like “there’s more to life” or “you shouldn’t want to kill yourself” but to his surprise, he saw a brief flash of hesitance flash through Arthur’s face, his-- _ its _ blue eyes flickering to the ground before glancing back towards him. 

“I…” Joker’s smirk slowly faded, becoming replaced with shock as he swore he saw fucking  _ sadness _ in the android’s eyes, but perhaps it was just, a trick of the light from the street lamps. It was fucking gone as soon as it came, so it seemed plausible, bu yet the frown and the hesitance written clearly on his expression wasn’t going away. He...he seemed  _ conflicted _ . 

He looked human, like he was actually worried and conflicted over his blunt signs of suicidal thoughts.

_ He’s just an android,  _ a voice reminded him.  _ Following lines of code, following priorities given to him, he couldn’t ever care about you. No one can. _

_ No one should.  _

Joker felt a sudden bout of anger flare inside him. He didn’t even realize his feet were moving until he felt his hands harshly grasp Arthur’s shoulders and his body shake with the impact of him slamming the android into the nearest lamp post. 

“ _ DON’T  _ fucking act like you care!” he yelled, his voice hoarse yet sharp. His eyes were seething as he dug his nails into the fucking Cyberlife-issued jacket of the fucking RK700. A constant reminder of what  _ it _ was.  _ Nothing but a lifeless machine _ . “You  _ don’t _ , you’re just fucking following your orders, your fucking  _ priorities _ , don’t fucking look like you actually give a shit!” 

Arthur’s LED was flashing a rapid red and yellow, but Joker was too busy burning with impulsive rage to notice that, nor the way the android’s blue eyes were wide and his hands shook slightly. “You  _ act _ like you care, you act like you actually give a  _ shit _ if I live another day or not, but guess fucking what? You  _ don’t _ ! You  _ can’t _ , because you’re only following your fucking mission, given to you by another piece of shit who doesn’t give a  _ fuck _ about me.” If he was being honest, he wasn’t sure what was coming out of his mouth at this point. He just knew that the feelings of contempt and rage and sadness were overflowing in his veins and right now he really,  _ really _ hated the fact that this fucking  _ android _ was here, because, because--

“So what if I smoke? So what if I die?? All you’ll get is a fucking ‘mission failed’ or whatever and move on with your fucking life. You don’t actually  _ care _ if I die,  _ no one does _ .” Joker was painfully aware of the heat that was making its way into his eyes, painfully aware of the way his vision was becoming blurry with tears, but at this point, who cares? Certainly not this fucking android. “You’re just--you’re just a  _ machine _ ,” he hissed out, his voice shaky and low. He still didn’t notice the way Arthur’s LED stayed a long, deep red for a good few seconds at that. “How can you care? Why do you even stay with my sorry fucking ass?” Another long pause of red. “Why do you care if I slowly kill myself?? What if one day I decided to just take a gun to my head and shoot, huh?? What then???” Joker’s vision was too blurry with tears for him to even notice the solid red of Arthur’s LED at this point. “Compared to that, what’s a few fucking smokes, huh?? It’s better than slicing myself open with knives, right?? ‘Cause that’s what I used to do, but it got too fucking noticeable, and my hands, ha!” He didn’t notice the way Arthur flinched at the bitter laughter. “Got too fucking shaky because I can never get enough of what kills me.” Joker’s eyes--dark and almost soulless--looked down at Arthur, his smirk resentful and full of something that Arthur could only describe as despair. 

Joker still didn’t notice the solid red on the side of the android’s head. Instead, he leaned in close to Arthur’s face. “I’m practically  _ bound  _ to die at some point. Sorry to say, but you got placed in an already-failing mission. My death would probably be best for the investigation, you know? Actually, I’m sure you know, I’d be replaced with someone a lot more competent, and a lot less problematic to work with. Don’t you think that would be more beneficial for you and your  _ priorities _ , hmm?” He took a good look at the android’s alarmed face, though he only took its silence and its red LED as a sign that he had it stumped. 

Joker darkly chuckled and leaned back a bit, his hands still pinning the android back. “See? You understand the benefits too. If not for your other priority of being my fucking babysitter, why else would you want to keep me alive--” 

_ “I don’t want you to die.” _ Joker’s confident ramble of words quickly died in his mouth at the quiet,  _ shaky _ words that left the android’s lips. Shock overtook him, his grip on his shoulders falling slack in response. He didn't even feel Arthur taking his arms and pushing them to rest by his side. He blinked to clear his blurry vision, small tears trailing down his cheeks as his eyes darted back and forth between the android’s, whose eyes were firmly cast downwards and off into the distance. 

“...What?” Joker’s voice was barely above a whisper. He...he heard wrong, right? He didn't actually just hear him say he didn't want him to die, and certainly not in a quiet, scared,  _ human _ way right?? 

“We should head back, Lieutenant, it is getting cold.” Again, Joker blinked, speechless. No, no surely he had been dreaming, what with the way Arthur's voice sounded so smooth and blank and flat; there was no way he could have sounded so broken, especially over him. 

Joker glanced over his impassive face that glanced up at him for a good long moment before slowly stepping back, letting out a bitter, bitter chuckle. His shoulders slumped and he shook his head.  _ It _ , he reminded himself. Just  _ it _ . 

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” He rubbed his eyes and took out the pack of cigarettes and the lighter he had hidden in his back pocket. His shaky hands  _ (when had they gotten so fucking shaky) _ took one out and he quickly lit it, placing the stick between his lips and breathing in the noxious fumes. 

When Arthur didn't seem to make a fuss this time, he blew out a long puff of smoke and started briskly walking towards his apartment. He really wanted to get himself black-out drunk tonight. Maybe he'll actually gather the courage to open the drawer this time, too. 

~~_ Fuck, why were his hands trembling so fucking much.  _ ~~

He knew Arthur was quietly following behind him, but what he didn't know or saw was his LED flushing a solid yellow with flickers of red every now and then. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh I hope this wasn't too bad!
> 
> If you'd like more about these two goobers, please lemme know! 
> 
> I'm pretty open for writing requests of any kind on [tumblr (mycelle-hell)](https://mycelle-hell.tumblr.com) so you can go bother me there!


End file.
